Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Imagination takes on new meaning for a uniquely talented teen in this debut novel that is a breathtaking blend of contemporary, fantasy, and romance.

Sometimes Jonathan Aubrey wishes he could just disappear. And as luck—or fate—would have it, he can. Ever since coming out of a coma as a kid, he has been able to create alternate worlds. Worlds where he is a superhero, or a ladies’ man, or simply a better version of himself. That’s the world he’s been escaping to most since sophomore year, a world where he has everything he doesn’t have in real life: friends, a place of honor on the track team, passing grades, and most importantly, Kylie Simms as his girlfriend.

But when Jonathan confuses his worlds senior year and tries to kiss the real Kylie Simms, everything unravels. The real Kylie actually notices Jonathan…and begins obsessing over him. The fantasy version of Kylie struggles to love Jonathan as she was created to do, and the consequences are disastrous. As his worlds collide, Jonathan must confront the truth of his power and figure out where he actually belongs—before he loses both Kylies forever.

This is from the opening scene of the book. In the middle of the night, worried, Jonathan goes to Kylie’s room.

I don’t actually want to talk. I want more kissing. I want more her. I reach for her hand, separate out her index finger, and draw it down the left side of my face, from my eye practically to my jaw. She doesn’t flinch, and that is exactly what I need. I pull up my shirt and place her hand on my chest, where the scarring is the worst. She moves her fingers over the snarls and craters, caresses them, then replaces my shirt and kisses the scar on my face.

Her eyes look into mine. Most people can’t look me in the eyes. The real Kylie has never looked me in the eyes, but this Kylie seeps into me with a gaze. She is not disgusted by me. She loves me.

Fans of Cora Carmack’s Rusk University, we have a SUPER exciting
announcement:

ALL CLOSED OFF, Book 4 in the Rusk University Series, is
coming!!!

Check out this message from Cora!

*WARNING: This letter contains spoilers for All Broke Down. If you haven't
yet read that book, read at your own peril. SECOND WARNING: this letter talks about
fictional characters as if they are real people. Sorry I'm not sorry. THIRD WARNING:
The letter below broaches a serious topic that could be a trigger for some people*

Hello beloved readers!

The first person who read one of my Rusk University books was my older sister. I gave her All Lined Up when I finished, and her first question was "Are Ryan and Stella going to be together?"

At the time, I told her no. I had plans for both of them that included their own storylines. I thought they were too much alike. They'd make great friends. They might even hook-up, but in the end... I couldn't envision anything serious for them. So I actually rewrote some of their scenes trying to make that aspect of their connection more obvious. And still, when All Lined Up released, amidst the chatter about sweet Carson and sassy Dallas, I had people asking if Stella and Ryan were next. I denied it again (and again and again).

But sometimes in writing, the stars align and a character will become bigger and more real than you could have possibly imagined. It's a wonderful experience, but in Stella's case it was also incredibly heartbreaking. While I was writing All Broke Down, the news was inundated with information about the Steubenville rape trial and other tragedies and injustices like it. Tragedies where women have been violated first by an attacker, then by judgmental and hateful people, and finally by a justice system that repeatedly fails survivors of sexual assault. Having grown up in Texas, where too often football stars are treated like gods and can get away with just about anything, it hit particularly close to home. And since All Broke Down featured a passionate activist heroine, I felt compelled to reference this chronic dark underbelly of elite sports.

I can remember vividly sitting on my couch, brainstorming how I would incorporate such an event into the book. I had thought the assault would happen to an unknown character, and maybe I would focus on the way it divided the team and the school and the town. But like I said... Sometimes a character will become bigger and more human than I anticipated. And it sounds crazy, but in my mind, I felt Stella push her way forward and say, "Mine. This is my story." I immediately began to cry. Sob, really. Because I loved her as a character. She was hilarious and strong and didn't take crap from anyone. She was everything I always hope to be. And I didn't want her to go through that. Even as I cried, my brain began to tell me that it made sense. Stella was vibrant and enjoyed a wild party. She was not afraid of her sexuality, and she had no problem with casual sex. She was the kind of girl that probably had a reputation. The kind of girl who could be heinously and violently taken advantage of, and people would STILL blame her. Because she was in the wrong place, wearing the wrong clothes, behaving in the wrong way. But just because it COULD happen to her, didn't mean I wanted it to. But once again, Stella was there in my head saying, "Someone needs to tell this story. And I'm strong enough to do it. Let me." And when Stella chose her story, she also chose the man I'd been adamant wasn't right for her. Because as it turns out... Those two characters who I thought were too alike aren't so alike anymore. And Stella needs Ryan to help her hold on to that vibrant and strong girl she was before.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Regan Flay is on the cusp of achieving her control-freak mother's "plan" for high school
success―cheerleading, student council, the Honor Society—until her life gets turned horribly,
horribly upside down. Every bitchy text. Every bitchy email. Every lie, manipulation, and insult
she's ever said have been printed out and taped to all the lockers in
school.

Now Regan has gone from popular princess to total pariah.

The only person who even speaks to her is her former best friend's hot but
socially miscreant brother, Nolan Letner. Nolan thinks he knows what Regan's going through,
but whatnobody knows is that Regan isn't really Little Miss Perfect. In fact,
she's barely holding it together under her mom's pressure. But the consequences of Regan's fall
from grace are only just beginning. Once the chain reaction starts, no one will remain
untouched...

Sunday, April 26, 2015

It's finally here! We are beyond excited to bring you the Release Week Launch for Katie Cotugno's
99 Days!!! Did you enjoy How To Love? Then grab your copy of Katie's latest novel today!

99 DAYSby Katie Cotugno
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

SYNOPSIS:

Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my
house my first
night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers
everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything
happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. Now I’m
serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can
leave for college, and be done.

Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it
clear Julia isn’t finished. I’m expecting a fight when someone taps me on the
shoulder, but it’s just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me.
“For what it’s worth, Molly Barlow,” he says, “I’m really glad you’re back.”

Day 12: Gabe got me to come to this party, and I’m
actually having fun. I think he’s about to kiss me—and that’s when I see
Patrick. My Patrick, who’s supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick,
who’s never going to forgive me.

Kaitlyn Parker has no problem being the invisible girl, which is why she finds herself hiding in various cabinets and closets all over her college campus. Despite her best efforts, she can’t escape the notice of Martin Sandeke—bad boy, jerkface bully, and the universe’s hottest, wealthiest, and most unobtainable bachelor—who also happens to be Kaitlyn’s chemistry lab partner.

Kaitlyn might be the only girl who isn’t interested in exploiting his stunning rower’s build, chiseled features, and family's billionaire fortune. Kaitlyn wants Martin for his brain, specifically to tabulate findings of trace elements in surface water.

When Kaitlyn saves Martin from a nefarious plot, Martin uses the opportunity to push Kaitlyn out of her comfort zone: spring break, one week, house parties, bathing suits, and suntan lotion. Can she overcome her aversion to being noticed? Will he be able grow beyond his self-centered nature? Or, despite their obvious chemistry, will Martin be the one to drive Kaitlyn into the science cabinet of obscurity for good?

This book was totally off of my
radar until last week. I only came across Attraction when I was blog stalking
one of my favourites, Vilma’s Book Blog, and saw the very eye-catching book
cover and read its intriguing blurb. I have to go back and talk about its book
cover first, I never thought I would love such a loud and bold colour on a book
cover but Attraction made me love it. I adore the bloody red coloured
background, black illustration of a man and the intricate details of the
chemistry symbols and elements in it. In a way, the cover design was relevant to the
characters, the story and how the narrative is written. In addition to that, it’s not one of those
cheesy book covers that we see a lot at present which makes me so happy with
how Attraction was treated. As to the blurb, I was sold to reading Attraction
when I read…

“One week.Private beach.Invisible girl.Jerk-faced bully.What’s the worst
that could happen?”

Friday, April 24, 2015

Title: WORLD AFTER (Penryn & the End of Days #2)Author: Susan Ee (Website | Twitter)Publication Date: November 19, 2013

SYNOPSIS

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

Wow, that was quite a read. Just like Angelfall, the pacing of this book was really good. The flow of the story was so smooth/polished despite the eeeky grisly parts of it. I didn’t even notice that I was already half-way through it. (Noooooo! I want more pages!) Dagnabit, because I had the need to put this book down to some chores in the house. Psh. But still the excitement and all my World After feels in my body were intact and desperate to finish this book as soon as possible. So, here I am. I haven’t slept yet just to finish and post this book review. Ha! The things I do for books. Oh joy!

Story. World After picks up hours after the first book, Angelfall, ended. We witness Penryn scaring the crap out of everyone when she like "rose from the dead", as what the Resistance crew thought of. Everyone knows about that scene in the aeries that Raffe pulled off - her being carried or delivered to her family in the arms of an angel and her dying or probably already dead in his arms. So when she made that single movement, everyone was frantic about it. Even her mom was screaming.

Penryn's together now with her mother and her little sister. Plus, she's back in the Resistance camp with Obi leading the group. DeeDum there at the sidelines being their usual selves. BUT Their safety under the Resistance's arms was cut short. Some people from the Resistance tried to capture Paige (read the book and you'll know what she did), which eventually triggered for her to disappear on her family.

FURY, the much anticipated third standalone of The Seven Deadly Series by Fisher Amelie, releases May 4th, 2015! As we count down the days, Fisher is teasing us yet again! Here is the highly awaited cover!!

And now, without further ado...

About FURY:

Revenge is an euphoric thing. Trust me on this. Nothing compares to the release you get when you ruin someone’s life. When they’ve stolen important things. Things that didn’t belong to them. Things I revel in making them pay for.

What? Have I offended you? I’m not here to appeal to your delicate senses. I have no intention of placating your wishes or living within your personal belief system nor do I care if you hate me. And you will hate me. Because I’m a brutal, savage, cold-blooded murderer and I’m here for my revenge.

I’m Ethan Moonsong...And this is the story about how I went from the world’s most sacrificing man to the most feared and why I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

EXCERPT from FURY, Coming May 4, 2015:We start where we left off from Fisher’s last excerpt. If you’d like to read it, you can go here!

FURY (Excerpt Two)

“Ethan?” she asked. “Is that you?”

“Hello, Finley,” I answered.

“How are you?” she asked, somehow devoid of the pity I’d often heard in so many greetings since Cricket. I was grateful to her for this.

“I’m fine,” I slurred, lifting my head a bit to meet her eyes.

A grin met her lips. “You were always a terrible liar.” Her smile fell a little. “What are you doing here?”

She looked me up and down, making me feel self-conscious. “But apparently it doesn’t love you.”

“Thanks,” I snorted, acting like I didn’t care. But I did.

“You look terrible,” she said, ignoring me. “Are you even eating?”

“I’m consuming the daily recommended calorie intake,” I hedged.

“Ah,” she answered, examining my empty glass.

I shook my head and signaled to Vi for another.

Finley narrowed her eyes once more. “Can I get a basket of chicken tenders too, Vi?” she added.

“Sure thing,” she said, ringing up Finley’s food before grabbing the bottle of Jack and filling me to the top.

Finley examined my glass but didn’t say a word.

“What?” I asked, feeling defensive.

“Nothing,” she answered, looking at her hands.

“Judging me?”

“Not at all,” she said sincerely and looked me dead in the eye.

This look froze me, and the glass slipped from my fingers and back onto the bar top, spilling a little from the rim.

“I’ve done that very thing,” she said, gesturing toward my glass.

“Drink ’til you’re numb?”

“No,” she said, “succumb to a vice in order to forget.”

I leaned forward, stunned by this admission, and my eyes found hers. “What, Finley?”

She hesitated, started to open her mouth, but someone called her name and she turned around. It was an ex-classmate of ours, couldn’t remember her name, the one she’d been dancing with, and I found myself feeling anxious all of a sudden. I hadn’t felt anxious in a long time. Hadn’t felt anything, really, other than severe pain and shame, in a very long time. Huh.

“Finley, Chris is gonna give me a ride back home. You cool?” the girl asked, eyeing me. She knew. The whole town knew about my tumble down the rabbit hole.

“Yeah, Holly Raye. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she answered, her brows scrunched in confusion.

Finley was surprised by Holly Raye’s apparent worry which I found odd.

“Okay,” Holly Raye said, kissing Finley’s cheek.

Chris was waiting by the door for her, and we both watched them leave, afraid to speak, our earlier moment gone.

Vi walked up with Finley’s chicken tenders and set them in front of her. Her fingers found one but lifted up quickly with a tiny gasp.

“Hot,” she whispered, resting her fingers against the side of her water glass.

She let them cool for a few moments and we sat in awkward silence. I wasn’t sure what she was still doing there. I didn’t have any clue why she had even started to talk to me either. I mean, I knew in high school she’d had a crush on me, but I figured it was long gone. She used to stare at me a little doe eyed, and I had always done my best to be kind to her but not too kind. I’d considered her a friend but nothing more, even if I did take solace in my conversations with her. I’d never admitted that out loud to anyone then, though, not that I was ashamed or anything. It’s just, I was in love with Cricket.

Cricket.

The ache in my chest burned deep, a restless reminder of all I’d lost. And suddenly I felt guilty for finding Finley attractive even when I thought she was a stranger. Even after Cricket left me for Spencer.

“You should probably leave,” I told her.

She looked at me like I was crazy. “I’ll do whatever I want,” she said, sitting taller, pitching me that confident Finley attitude I remembered from high school.

“Whatever,” I said, then called out to Vi for another round, which she served up quickly.

Finley tore apart a few tenders then handed me half of one.

“Uh, no,” I said, downing my glass.

“Uh, yes,” she mocked, shoving the piece in my face.

“Stop,” I said, swiping it away.

“Eat, damn it,” she said.

I looked at her and the expression on her face told me she wouldn’t quit, so I roughly took it from her and took a large bite. She bit into her own piece, a smug look on her face. She practically hand fed me every piece in the damn basket, but I didn’t care. I knew what she was doing, but it wouldn’t work because the liquor resting in my belly was too substantial to be worked against.

Hmpf! Why haven't I read this book yet? Yep, Angelfall certainly does belong in that category. I've been randomly picking up books last month on my to be read list and this book wasn't one of those, sad! Anyways, I decided to read this now because I know that the second book will be out this month. Wohoops! Just in time then! Another reason is that I am into reading angel related books at the moment and I just thought of this one. I've heard and read really great reviews for this book, which got me curious about all the fuss surrounding it!

So yeah. Started reading it and WHOA, instantly got hooked by it! I can't place this book down! I just want to keep reading and reading and reading it! I finished it in just a few hours upon starting it! (Screw internet connection for not letting me post this as soon as I'm done reading the book. Pffft!) This book is totally different from all the other angel books that I've read and it was all good and awesome stuff. It definitely brought something new to the table!

Angelfall is a great way to open a series. It somewhat left tons of questions unanswered by the end of it, leaving a sort of mystery and excitement for it's follow-up book. Angel Politics turmoil. The involvement of those kids. Lower Demons. Resistance. Scorpion Angels. Quite a number of elements included in the base of the story, but it was really delivered properly (or should I say, the readers were properly hinted and teased by those elements). Now, I'm quite excited how everything will unfold in the second book of the series, which is World After.

Join us in promoting Marry Me, Charlotte B!, Carla de Guzman’s second novella, and her first New Adult book to readers worldwide!

About MARRY ME, CHARLOTTE B!

You are cordially invited to the wedding of the year!

Nellie Canlas loves her job. She loves being assistant to reality TV star and wedding planner goddess, the fabulous Charlotte Bertram, and she loves working with couples to make their wedding dreams come true. What she doesn’t love is having cameras following her all the time, especially when she’s crushing hard on the lawyer from another floor.

Robert Bertram doesn’t like planning weddings. He doesn’t like being on TV either. But when he finds himself in possession of Nellie’s diary, he thinks he can turn her into anyone’s dream girl. If he doesn’t fall for her first.

If you would like to participate in this blog tour, you can sign up HERE!

To receive tour invites from BOOKISH DIARIES BOOK TOURS, you can fill out this form: eepurl.com/9Ncfj. If you're already a subscriber, we're sending our never-ending hugs your way!

Monday, April 20, 2015

Following in the bestselling tradition of Molly McAdams and J. Lynn, this final chapter in the fun and steamy New Adult trilogy by Noelle August (authors Veronica Rossi and Lorin Oberweger) features two aspiring musicians who must choose between their careers…and their sizzling attraction for each other.

Playing the occasional club gig just isn’t cutting it for twenty-two-year-old cellist Skyler Canby, who’s trying to support herself and her mother back home in Kentucky. Persuaded by her best friend Beth to accompany her on an audition for the first feature film launched by Blackwood Entertainment, she figures why not? Beth’s a shoe-in for the lead, but maybe Skyler’s newly dyed pink hair will help her stand out enough to score a small speaking part.

Never in her wildest dreams does Skyler imagine she’ll land the lead role or that she’ll have her shoes knocked off her feet by the kiss her audition partner, Grey Blackwood, plants on her—a kiss that feels very real and not at all “acted. ”

After throwing a party that causes thousands of dollars of damage to his older brother’s home, reckless musician Grey Blackwood gets roped into working off his debt on the set of his CEO brother’s newest project. Grey spends his days fetching coffee and doing odd jobs around the studio, but he lives for nights when he performs with his band. He knows if he can stay focused, success as a singer is just around the corner. But that’s tough with a distracting pink-haired girl occupying his every waking thought.

Skyler and Grey have every reason to resist each other. But, like a song neither of them can get out of their minds, they have no choice but to go where the music takes them.

Question: What do you get when friends pen a story with heart, plenty of laughs, and toe-curling kissing scenes?

Answer: Noelle August, the pseudonym for renowned editor and award-winning writer Lorin Oberweger and New York Times bestselling YA author Veronica Rossi, the masterminds behind the Boomerang series. You can visit them at NoelleAugust.com, @Noelle_August and facebook.com/NoelleAugustBooks.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Fandomly
Bookish is quite back after entering
a hiatus throughout the month of March. I’m writing this blog post to share to
you what I’ve been up to for the past month and what were the things that led
me into having a blogging hiatus. Nothing to worry, though, for I didn’t get
sick or anything. So yeah, let’s get down to it.

#NoWIFI

Yes, we
don’t have WIFI connection right now in our house because we’ve decided to have
it cut off due to weeks and weeks of crappy connection. I don’t know when we’ll
have a replacement for it. And you know what? I’m actually kind of okay with
that. Recently, I’ve also felt like I need some time to step away from being so
active in my social media accounts and focus more on my life outside of it. I
know it will take a toll on my blogging duties but on the flipside I’ll be able
to take a break and just chill aka read more books. Speaking of books, I’ve
read quite a number last month and I ended up not being able to write book
reviews because, phew the pile and my fervor for reading pushed me to read the
next book right after the one that I’ve finished. I hope I’ll be able to have
time soon to go through those books again and write mini book reviews for it. I
updated my Goodreads account and in there you’ll be able to see the ratings for
those books. I hope those ratings can still help you in choosing your next
reads.

#ConfessReleasePH

The
whole month of February and for the most part of March, I’ve been constantly
answering emails, communicating to a bunch of people, coordinating with the
entire Colleen Hoover Philippines team to organize a release party and the first
ever Filipino CoHorts gathering. This event definitely kept me busy every
single day because our team is constantly tweaking the flow of the event (adding and removing activities), I’m
always checking on my email account and constructing replies. I even felt the
need of gluing my eyes and hands to my laptop and phone. Tiring but it was very
fulfilling when you have an end result of a very successful event. The release
party was definitely a huge success and I can say that everybody in attendance
had a great time. The vibe of the event was very chill and friendly. There were
games, great performances and everybody had a great laugh. I’m planning to
write a blog post about this event together with another one which constituted
for me to have the “best weekend ever”.

#OTRATMNL and nursing my PCD

After
years of waiting, I finally had the chance to watch and hear One Direction
perform live last March 21st and it was so surreal. I still can’t
believe it but when I scroll through my phone’s voice notes and listen to the
ones I’ve recorded during the concert, it proves to me that that particular
night really happened. It was real. I really had the pleasure of hearing them
sing and talk live in front of me. I’ve been a fan of this band from the very
beginning and for me to able to witness them performing was very fulfilling.
Their voices were really beautiful and if you’re very keen into distinguishing
the similarities/awesome differences between the studio version and their live
performance, you’ll just be doing two thumbs up. They were perfect and they
really deserve everything that they have achieved all through the years. I’m very
proud to be a One Direction fan!

I didn't know that this book belongs to a series and so basically the ending killed me - cliffhanger! But surely, Love Me Never is worth the read!!! I love the narrations and dialogues in this book that it even brought me to tears while ...

I'm typing this in at 2:30 am. I just finished reading Paper Princess and my goodness, my heart was beating so loudly because of those last few pages!!! I got the feeling that something's about to happen but I seriously never saw that on...